The book is titled “The Acts of the Apostles”, but
is more accurately “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”, for He is truly at
work throughout the book in every event. Chapter 16 is remarkable in many ways.
First of all, at Lystra Paul meets Timothy, who was the son of a Greek father
and a Jewish mother. Paul takes him under his wing and brings him along on his
missionary journey. After giving to churches in the region the decrees of the
apostles regarding the things decided in Jerusalem, they wanted to go to Asia,
but the Holy Ghost forbade them.
THE CALL
Then there was the Macedonian call. “And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. And
a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia,
and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had
seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them” (Acts
16:8-10).
They went to Philippi in Macedonia and
soon discovered one reason the Spirit sent them there:
“A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of
Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she
attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul” (Acts 16:14).
Later they met a girl possessed of an evil spirit: “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed
with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by
soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are
the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And
this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit,
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out
the same hour” (Acts 16: 16-18).
THE
CELL
Because it took away monetary gain from those who used
her divination powers, these unscrupulous people had the Philippian magistrates
put Paul and Silas in Jail, after beating them severely. This brings us to our
main focus: “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang
praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately
all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of
the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew
out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had
been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we
are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling,
and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the
Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the
night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and
rejoiced, believing in God with all his house” (Acts 16:25-34).
We notice that Paul and Silas were not worried, or
defeated even though they had been severely beaten. They were praying, and
singing praises to God at midnight, and the prisoners heard them. This was a
wonderful witness to all who heard, that God would take care of His own.
Instead of being in despair, they were having a praise service. These apostolic
preachers taught us all how to behave under persecution, and many Christians since,
such as John Hus, Polycarp, and Wycliffe, as well as many in our modern day,
have followed their path.
Prison was a rough place to be in the Roman Empire.
Many of today’s prisons in America are like country clubs compared to a Roman prison.
My late friend, Simion Motz, who for his Christian witness, served four years
of a seventeen year sentence in the hellhole communist prisons of his homeland.
He told me that later, when he went to preach at prisons here in the free
world, he was shocked to find that the prisoners had recreation rooms complete
with televisions, ping pong tables, and various games, magazines, books, and
even a swimming pool! He said these prisoners had it better than most common
people had it in communist Romania. My late friend, Haralan Popov, writer of Tortured
for his Faith telling of his 13 years in Bulgarian prisons, said much the
same thing. We see that Paul and Silas
had no luxuries. Only misery!
Yet these men of God were not complaining, though I am
sure they were suffering much pain. Instead they were praying and singing
praises to God. I don’t know what they were singing, but it must have been God
honoring music similar to “Amazing Grace”, “Rock of Ages”, or
some psalms, or spiritual songs. I’m sure they were not singing rock,
hip hop, country or some other “contemporary” concoction patterned after the
world’s music. It was midnight, but they were singing praises unto God, and the
prisoners heard them.
Then came the astounding earthquake. The Lord of
heaven and earth can shake the earth anytime he wants, and here was just the
right time. It was such a shaking that the very foundations of the prison were
shaken.. To further show that this was miraculous, and not a natural phenomenon,
the doors were all opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
THE CONVERSION
Now remember the jailer, or keeper of the prison, was
charged by the magistrate to firmly secure Paul and Silas in stocks, and
carefully guard them. The leaders were set on stopping the preaching of these
“strange gods”. So the jailer feared for his life, but would rather kill
himself than suffer the shame and humiliation of letting the prisoners escape.
He thought all the prisoners had escaped, and he was going to die anyway, so
why not get it over with.
You can imagine his shock when he heard Paul cry out
loudly “Do thyself no harm, for we are all here” (v.28). Not
one of his charges had left, though all were loosed. So he called for a light
in that dark dungeon and rushed in trembling. He was trembling, not because of the earthquake, nor
because of possible escaped prisoners, or fear of his superiors, but because
the power of the Holy Ghost brought conviction to him. Unlike Felix (Acts
24:25), who trembled when Paul preached to him, the jailer trembled, and asked
a very important question.
No, my friends, the words he next said were not from
worry of escaping prisoners, or reprisals from his superiors, but from Holy
Ghost power brought to his own soul. He had no doubt heard why they were in
jail. Maybe he had heard all the commotion brought about by the possessed girl
who said “These men are servants of the most High God which
shew us the way of salvation” (v. 17). What she said was true, just as when the demons
identified Jesus as the Christ, and He rebuked them because His time had not
yet come. The damsel was causing a distraction and a hindrance. So when Paul
rebuked the demon in her, the handlers lost their meal ticket, and that is why
they wanted the apostles arrested.
But the jailer said “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). This is not the normal way a jailer would address a
prisoner. He wouldn’t say “sirs” to them. They were more used to speaking harshly
and abruptly to those arrested and in their care. But he was under Holy Spirit
conviction, and crying out for help for his lost soul. No doubt he saw his
sins. Maybe he was a great sinner. Like Lydia, Cornelius, and the Ethiopian
Eunuch, he was a Gentile, yet he knew he needed what these Jews had. Remember,
Paul and Silas were sinners also. We all are. Remember Paul wrote “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”
(I Timothy 1:15). If Paul was the chief,
and God saved him, it is a not a problem for God to save the jailer, or you and
me!
What must I do? Well, he could do nothing to save
himself. All he could do was provide the sinner -- God did the rest. Note that
the apostles did not say to keep the law, join the synagogue or church, seek
psychiatric help, repeat a soul winner's prayer, sign a card, or give us all
your money for future blessings. But they said “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” Believe totally -- trust in, rely on, cling
to Christ Jesus. Note that Paul and Silas did not say "might be
saved", but “shall be saved". It is
a surety with God.
This is the gospel message in a nutshell again as in I
Timothy 1:15; I Corinthians 15:3-6; Romans 10:9-10; and perhaps Acts 2:38, 39.
THE CELEBRATION
“And thy house”. That his house would believe was a statement of prophecy as
well. What a blessing that the gospel floodgates were opened so that all those
who believed may enter in. The evangelists preached Christ to him and his
house. How would you like to have been in that meeting? Yes, the jailer really
was converted. One indication it was real, was his immediate compassion for
those he and others had wronged. He washed their stripes. These two that were roughly
treated under his care were now cared for as brethren. What a change when Jesus
Christ comes into one’s heart! His house still had to believe for themselves,
but with his example and the power of the Spirit, it was done. All of them were
saved!
The evangelists were satisfied that the conversions
were real, for the jailer and all his house were baptized the same night. It
was believer’s baptism for sure. Was it immersion? Was there a nearby lake or
pond? As a Baptist by conviction, knowing the meaning of the Greek baptizo (Strong‘s
defines it as “to make whelmed, i.e., fully wet”), I have to believe it was
immersion. Yet I can’t prove it unconditionally from these verses, but many
other places in scripture indicate immersion as the proper mode. Suffice it to
say, salvation had come to the prison keeper’s house, and they were baptized after
believing.
Then there was a celebration meal. “He set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his
house” (Acts 16:34). Note that both Young‘s concordance, and Strong’s
define "rejoiced" as " jumped for joy” (S), or "leaped
for joy” (Y). Yes it was a glorious celebration. It always is when the
awakened children of God embrace Christ; confess Him; close with him.
Regeneration (the making alive), always comes first. Then conviction,
repentance and conversion. Have you been awakened to YOUR need of
Christ, dear reader? Just as He was the only one who could save the jailer and
his house, He is the only one who can save you and your house.
It has never been popular to preach “Christ and Him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2),
yet He said “I am The way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but
by Me” (John 14:6). It is illegal in some countries to preach
Christ. It may be here in the USA if we keep going as we are. You or I may go
to jail, or even die for believing in Christ. The point is; we still have it
relatively easy here, but that is changing rapidly. The followers of
Mohammed (At least many of them), have vowed to destroy Christianity and
take over this country. May God forbid! But if that happens great tribulation
will come for the true Christians. Are you ready?
WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS?
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/a/whatwond.htm (Link for
story).
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing
on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on.
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